Minnesota congressman tours Syngenta R&D site

By Syngenta | September 28, 2018

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Rep. Jason Lewis, R-Minn., recently toured the Syngenta Seeds Stanton, Minnesota, R&D facility and North America Seedcare Institute and participated in a discussion on the future of biofuels, including home-grown American ethanol.

During 2017 alone, the U.S. ethanol industry created and supported nearly 360,000 jobs and contributed roughly $45 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP)—a number exceeding the total GDP of many countries. And, the production of more than 15 billion gallons of ethanol meant that the U.S. needed to import approximately 532 million fewer barrels of crude oil to meet the country’s demand for gasoline.

“Recently I toured Syngenta’s Seedcare Institute and demo field in Stanton,” Lewis said. “During my visit I also had the chance to discuss a variety of the business’ initiatives, including Syngenta’s work to partner with Randolph’s Agriculture Education classroom to help students learn more about the agricultural trade.”

Established in 1971, the Syngenta Seeds Stanton R&D facility is home to a biofuels lab that helps ethanol plants adopt Enogen corn enzyme technology, as well as plant breeding research for Enogen corn hybrids. Enogen corn is an in-seed innovation available exclusively from Syngenta and features the first biotech corn output trait designed specifically to enhance ethanol production. Enogen corn is rapidly gaining widespread acceptance because of the value it delivers to ethanol producers and the opportunity it provides corn growers to be enzyme suppliers for their local ethanol plants.

Farmers who grow Enogen corn are eligible to earn an additional premium per Enogen bushel and premiums paid over the past few years are expected to surpass $100 million during 2018. According to data from Iowa State University, these premiums create an additional $63 million in economic activity for a total of $163 million in cumulative economic benefit to the region.

“Ethanol is helping America reduce its dependence on foreign oil, and is helping to create jobs that can’t be outsourced,” said Jeff Oestmann, head, Biofuels Operations—Enogen at Syngenta. “Enogen corn not only helps keep enzyme dollars in local communities, it supports the creation of jobs in the United States.

“Syngenta is committed to the success of the U.S. ethanol industry and to helping ethanol plants adopt the best enzyme strategy,” Oestmann added. “We are proud to have made a significant investment to bring this game-changing technology to market.”